


Jealousy Makes the Heart Grow Fonder

by fmpsimon



Category: Final Fantasy XV
Genre: Angst with a Happy Ending, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, First Love, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, One Shot
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-06
Updated: 2020-08-06
Packaged: 2021-03-05 20:09:09
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,732
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25751125
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/fmpsimon/pseuds/fmpsimon
Summary: Prompto won't stop going on and on about Cindy and Aranea, and Noctis has just about had it! He's about to confront Prompto about it, but will this finally drive him to confess his true feelings for his best friend, and what will that mean for their journey?
Relationships: Prompto Argentum/Noctis Lucis Caelum
Comments: 4
Kudos: 50





	Jealousy Makes the Heart Grow Fonder

Noctis was fuming. First it was Cindy this and Cindy that, and _now_ all he was talking about was that Aranea Highwind, who Noctis wasn’t sure they could even _trust_ yet, let alone have any _feelings_ about. He glared at his meal, some bulette curry which, unfortunately paled in comparison to Ignis’s cooking. It was one thing to have to hide his true feelings for his best friend, which was frustrating enough, but dealing with his constant flirting and outright declarations of love for the busty mechanic and even bustier mercenary was _beyond_ _annoying_. He rested his head on his hand and shoveled another spoonful into his mouth, scowling. Prompto was still prattling on about Aranea and how cool or hot she was. Ugh, it made him sick. “I’m gonna puke,” he voiced his thoughts aloud.

Prompto stopped mid-sentence, a questioning look on his face. “Huh? Oh—are you okay, Noct?” he said, setting his spoon down. “Are you sick?”

Noctis figured it was too late to back down now. “Yeah, sick of you talking about Aranea.” He was going all in. “If you like her so much, why didn’t you just ask to tag along with her? Or, better yet, you could’ve invited her to join us! Because we all know how useful you’d be, slobbering over her all the time.” Prompto just gaped at him, maybe for good reason. It _had_ been a little harsh, but he was pissed. “And when you’re not talking about her, you’re going on and on about Cindy, who, by the way has _no_ interest in you.” He put his hand to his forehead. “God, watching you shamelessly flirting with her is just sad.”

Prompto looked beyond hurt, completely at a loss for words. Maybe he had gotten a little carried away. “Noct, what’s gotten into you?” Ignis demanded.

Gladio chuckled. “Probably jealous because he doesn’t have the balls to talk to women himself.”

“I do too,” Noctis retorted. “And that’s not it at all!”

“Then maybe you should apologize,” Ignis said, crossing his arms.

“Apologize?!” Noctis said incredulously, throwing his hands up in the air. “For what?!”

“No,” Prompto said suddenly. Then softly, “He’s right. I…don’t have a chance with either of them.” He pushed away from the table, standing. “I…think I’m gonna turn in early. Sorry, guys. Enjoy the night life without me, okay?” He forced a smile, like everything was okay and he hadn’t just had his heart stomped on, and walked off.

Noctis watched him go. What was he doing?! Berating the person he liked was not going to get him anywhere. He put his face in his hands and let out a frustrated growl. “God, I’m such an idiot!”

“If I were you, I’d go apologize,” Ignis said stiffly. The disappointment in his voice was matched only by his deep frown.

“What’s the point?” Noctis said, defeated. “He’s never gonna forgive me.”

“Prompto?” Gladio said with a laugh. “He’d forgive you if he was starving and you took the last loaf of bread for yourself. That’s just the kind of person he is.”

Noctis frowned. “You mean he’s someone with low self-esteem who’d rather die than admit I hurt his feelings?”

“Yeah, that kind of person.” Gladio took a huge bite of curry and leaned back in his chair as he chewed.

“Just go,” Ignis said forcefully.

Noctis sighed and started in the direction Prompto had gone. This was a nightmare. He liked Prompto so much that it was hard to focus most of the time, always worrying if an animal or a daemon had gotten him. He wanted to protect him, but all he had done now was humiliate him in front of their friends. Man, he’d really fucked up this time. How was he even going to _start_ to apologize for this?

“Whoa—hey! You scared me.” He had turned a corner and come face to face with him.

“Hey, can we…talk?” Noctis murmured.

Prompto stretched one arm across his chest to hold the other. Noctis hadn’t seen him this uncomfortable for a while, and it killed him that he was the reason for it. “Are you sure? Because I’m not so sure I can take much more of what you were dishing out earlier.”

Noctis rubbed the back of his neck. “I’m sorry for what I said back there,” he said. “I didn’t mean any of it.”

“But you were right—I have no chance in hell of landing a girl like them. Feels bad to admit it, but it’s true.” He sighed, leaning against the wall.

“It’s not true. Any woman would be lucky to have you.” Noctis sidled next to him, but held his gaze. “You’re an amazing person, Prompto. You never give up on anyone, you’re honest, you’re kind, you’re about the only person that can make me laugh—”

“Well, that _is_ a challenge,” Prompto smirked.

“Shut up,” he said, nudging him. “You’re too hard on yourself. You’ll find someone special, and maybe it _will_ be Cindy or Aranea—who am I to say?”

Prompto crossed his arms and they were both quiet for a moment, though the hustle and bustle of Lestallum went on around them. “So, if you really didn’t mean what you said back there, why did you say it?”

“I—uh,” he stammered. He _really_ didn’t want to admit why right now, even though he knew exactly why. It probably would sound a little weird to say, “Because I like you, Prompto, and I don’t want anyone else to have you,” right after encouraging him to try and date Cindy or Aranea. “I…guess I was just jealous, like Gladio said,” he settled on lamely. “I just don’t have the guts to be open about my feelings, and I guess you talking about yours just got on my nerves.” He hated lying like this, but he just couldn’t tell him. What would it do to their friendship? Besides, they didn’t have time for stuff like that, anyway. They were supposed to be figuring out a way to get to Altissia to find Luna.

Prompto cocked his head. “Really? I don’t think I’ve _ever_ heard you talk about girls at all,” he said thoughtfully. “And even when people bring up Luna or the wedding, you always brush it off or ignore it altogether. I thought that maybe you…”

“Maybe I what?” Noctis said eagerly, and it took him a moment to realize how close their faces were to each other. If he moved an inch, their noses would be touching. He couldn’t look away, but it seemed Prompto could. Even in the darkened city, he could see his face was flushed.

“Nothing,” Prompto said quickly. “It’s nothing. F-forget I brought it up.” He straightened up and took a few steps. “I’ll be at the hotel,” he said, turning around. “You should really get back to the others. They might be worried about you…future king and all.”

He started walking away. He was leaving and Noctis felt like he had just missed a chance, a chance he should have taken. Damn the wedding, damn the mission, damn anyone who said this is something he _shouldn’t_ do right now. “Dammit,” he muttered, walking after him. “Prompto! Wait!” He stopped and turned around as Noctis caught up to him. “I lied.”

Prompto’s face fell. “You mean, you _did_ mean what you said?”

“Yes and no,” he said, running a hand through his hair. “I didn’t say those things because I was jealous of you—I said them because I was jealous of them.”

“Jealous of Cindy and Aranea…?” Prompto said slowly as he tried to interpret the words. “Why?”

“Because… _I_ want you,” he muttered slowly, painfully. “And you don’t have to want me back, but just understand that _that’s_ why I flew off the handle back there.” He pursed his lips, trying desperately to play it cool while he waited for a response that might devastate him. Only minutes ago, he had crushed Prompto’s heart to bits; maybe it was his turn now to do the same.

Prompto was blushing more furiously than ever and he couldn’t seem to look Noctis in the eye. “Look, the only reason I say that stuff is because I’m trying to fit in—to be _normal_ , like you guys. Gladio’s always flirting with all the girls, so I thought I should too. It’s a…it’s a good distraction from what I’m really feeling, I guess.”

“Normal?” Noctis said. “What makes you think any of us is normal? And what even _is_ normal?” Prompto shrugged, hugging himself. “Forget that. And don’t try to be Gladio, either.” He shivered. “I definitely don’t want to kiss him.” He stopped and their eyes locked for a moment. “Um, can I, though?”

Prompto put his hands up defensively. “I dunno…I’ve never done that…before.”

“Never?” Prompto shook his head. “Well, there’s a first time for everything, right?”

“I guess,” Prompto said, before Noctis closed the gap and kissed him. If he were being honest, he hadn’t really done a lot of kissing either. He’d had a handful of dates in high school and in the few years following, and he’d kissed a few of them. But he was already going further than he’d ever gone with any teenage girls, as his tongue was now swirling around Prompto’s mouth. He felt fingers grabbing his t-shirt—not pushing him away, but pulling him in, tighter and tighter, and he acquiesced, wrapping his arms around Prompto’s waist and pulling him closer.

When they finally broke apart, Noctis opened his eyes, desperate to see Prompto’s reaction. Prompto took a moment before opening his own eyes and when he did, it seemed like he was worlds away. “So…what do you think?” he said a little breathlessly.

Prompto smiled crookedly. “I think we should do more of that,” he said, drawing a relieved smile from Noctis. “But not in the street. I’m not really wild about people watching us, y’know?”

“Yeah,” Noctis said with a laugh. “Me either.” He glanced over his shoulder. “Hey, if we hurry, we might have a few minutes alone at the hotel before Ignis and Gladio show up.”

Prompto nodded, a genuine smile on his face, and kissed him quickly on the cheek. “What are we waiting for?”

Noctis smiled back. “Nothing at all,” he said happily.


End file.
